Gasoline | Cassius Warrington

T H R E E

Persephone Avery hated large crowds. It was a hatred that her mother had passed down to her at an early age; Artemis Avery never hid her dislike of large groups of people, and neither had Persephone.

But somehow, she didn't hate Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. There was something almost relaxing about falling into the large groups of witches and wizards, all excited about going to Hogwarts, all hiding in a muggle-populated area behind a secret brick wall. It was almost exhilarating.

But Persephone's mother hated the Platform more than any other place. Even now, as they walked through Muggle families and businessmen who were holding briefcases, she was gritting her teeth. Persephone took her hand, and smiled at her mother.

"It'll be fine, Mum," she said confidently. "This year can't be anymore messed up than last year."

And Persephone believed. Last year, one of her Professors had turned into a werewolf, and that was after a murderer escaped from Azkaban and found a way inside Hogwarts. Dementors has occupied the grounds outside Hogwarts; the memory of them was enough to make Persephone shiver.

"Of course," she continued as she stepped around a crying toddler, "we do have Harry Potter at our school, so exams are bound to be cancelled. Maybe I won't even go to class."

"Persephone," her mother said, a mixture of sternness and weariness.

"Kidding," Persephone grinned. "But, you never know."

With that, Persephone walked straight into a brick wall with ease and fearlessness. She was greeted with the sight of a familiar scarlet train that was emitting large clouds of steam. And, standing a little bit away from the Weasley family, was a boy with dark, curly hair and an older woman, whose grey hair matched the boy's curls.

"Cassius!" Persephone shouted. He turned towards her and grinned.

"How many times are you going to write me this year?" asked Artemis as she walked onto the Platform. But as she saw Cassius walking towards them, she stiffened noticeably. Persephone frowned.

Her mother had always acted strange around Cassius. The first time she met him, after Persephone's First Year, her face had gone pale.

"Persephone, I need to talk to you," her mother said, her voice almost breathless.

But Cassius was there, an easy smile on his face. Persephone winked at him as he turned to face Artemis.

"Hello, Mrs. Avery," Cassius said, the epitome of polite. "Did you have a nice summer?"

"I did, thank you," Artemis responded, but the words were uneasy. "How was your summer, Cassius?"

He beamed. "Great! At least, until the Quidditch World Cup..." Cassius trailed off as he noticed Persephone shaking her head at him. "But I'm excited to go back to Hogwarts," he ended weakly.

Persephone watched as her mother's face turned stone cold. "That's what I want to talk to you about, Persephone."

Persephone groaned internally. "Save me a compartment," she said to Cassius gloomily before following her mother to an unoccupied corner of the platform.

Artemis, after looking around and deeming the area safe, leaned in close to her daughter. "You have to be careful this year," she whispered. "Something terrible is going to happen."

"More terrible than spending another year stuck in Snape's classroom?" Persephone drawled, unable to keep a smile from her face.

"This is important," Artemis said urgently. "There were Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup; they still haven't forgotten what your father and I did to cause the fall of the Dark Lord. If they get the chance, they will hurt you, Persephone. They will try to kill you."